&34;Wicked: For Good&34; lost its magic, including for stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, but &34;Sinners&34; star Delroy Lindo woke up to some great news. The biggest snubs and surprises from the 2026 Oscar nominations — from Ariana Grande to F1 &34;Wicked: For Good&34; lost its magic, including for stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, but &34;Sinners&34; star Delroy Lindo woke up to some great news. By Gerrad Hall, :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/Gerrad413fcf02541834f43bb26c0de8fe66f66.jpg) Gerrad Hall is an editorial director at , overseeing movie, awards, and music coverage.

"Wicked: For Good" lost its magic, including for stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, but "Sinners" star Delroy Lindo woke up to some great news.

The biggest snubs and surprises from the 2026 Oscar nominations — from Ariana Grande to F1

"Wicked: For Good" lost its magic, including for stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, but "Sinners" star Delroy Lindo woke up to some great news.

By Gerrad Hall,

Gerrad Hall is an editorial director at **, overseeing movie, awards, and music coverage. He is also host of *The Awardist* podcast, and has cohosted EW's live Oscars, Emmys, SAG, and Grammys red carpet shows. He has appeared on *Good Morning America*, *The Talk*, *Access Hollywood*, *Extra!*, and other talk shows, delivering the latest news on pop culture and entertainment.

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Joyce Eng

Joyce Eng is a senior news editor at ** with nearly 20 years of experience in entertainment journalism. She previously worked at OK!, TV Guide, and Gold Derby.

EW's editorial guidelines

and Joey Nolfi

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes *RuPaul's Drag Race* video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

EW's editorial guidelines

on January 22, 2026 10:14 a.m. ET

Ariana Grande; Delroy Lindo; Chase Infiniti. Credit:

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Maarten De Boer/Getty; Monica Schipper/Getty

After months and months of campaigning and interviews and festivals and appearances, the wait is over for the many actors, producers, directors, and craftspeople. We finally know the 2026 Oscar nominees, and as expected, there are some surprise nominees, which means there are some people who also got snubbed. Read on for some of the most shocking and surprising of this year.

SNUB: Wicked: For Good

Even a spell from the Grimmerie may not have been enough to conjure up nominations for the second *Wicked* movie. Months ago, they seemed like a sure thing for stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, but after the movie's opening, which quickly fell at the box office and didn't have the love and hype of the first (in all fairness, the second act of the Broadway musical isn't as good either, so...), awards didn't seem like such a sure thing for this movie. Still, Grande was holding on: She got Golden Globe and Actor Award nominations, and she was on BAFTA's longlist, all of which kept her in the game. Alas, the Academy's actors' branch wasn't swayed. Not only did Grande not make the final cut, but the movie got ZERO nominations — not for costumes (which Paul Tazewell won last year), not for production design, not for either of composer Stephen Schwartz's two new songs. *—Gerrad Hall*

Ariana Grande in 'Wicked: For Good'.

SURPRISE: Elle Fanning (Best Supporting Actress, Sentimental Value)

We get it. Elle Fanning is a magnificent actress. She showed up on *some* precursor nominations lists. But, we never fully understood why her work in *Sentimental Value *caught on with some voters the way it did. It's a solid performance, but one that ultimately feels entirely peripheral to the central story of Joachim Trier's dramatic masterpiece. In essence, it's the definition of a *supporting* performance, but her role as a movie star attempting to join a film director's (Stellan Skarsgård) personal cinematic opus feels a little too on-the-outskirts of the story overall, and lacks the dramatic bite we've seen Fanning display in the past. Nonetheless, a win is a win for Fanning, and her first nomination is a celebratory achievement for this talented young star, no matter what it's for. *—Joey Nolfi*

SNUB: Paul Mescal (Best Supporting Actor,* Hamnet*)

Perhaps only the Bard himself could've written this tragedy. After receiving nominations at virtually every other awards show, Paul Mescal didn't make the final cut here for his portrayal of William Shakespeare in Chloé Zhao's drama exploring his family's loss of their son and how it inspired *Hamlet*. It's certainly not a commentary on Mescal's performance — he's incredible in the movie. The best explanation is the Academy's love of *Sinners*, leading to the surprise nomination of... *—Gerrad Hall*

***Check out more from EW's *The Awardist*, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best in TV, movies, and more.***

SURPRISE: Delroy Lindo (Best Supporting Actor, Sinners)

Five years after failing to get a nomination for *Da 5 Bloods*, Delroy Lindo is finally an Oscar nominee, cracking the Best Supporting Actor lineup for *Sinners* after missing nominations at the Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes, and Actor Awards, the last of which saw his breakout costar Miles Caton make the cut. Lindo did, however, make the BAFTA longlist, while Caton did not, so perhaps Lindo will show up in BAFTA nominations on Tuesday as well. But once again, the Academy pulled the ol' veteran costar switcheroo at the Oscars, nominating an older performer over the younger one who had precursor support (see: *The Fabelmans*' Judd Hirsch over Paul Dano, *Belfast*'s Judi Dench over Caitriona Balfe, *Nocturnal Animals*' Michael Shannon over Aaron Taylor-Johnson). *—Joyce Eng*

Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim in 'Sinners'.

SNUB: Chase Infiniti (Best Actress, One Battle After Another)

*One Battle After Another *was aiming to be the 10th film to nab five acting nominations, but it came up one short with Chase Infiniti's snub in Best Actress. Running the film debutante in lead was always a risky proposition, as she's not the dominant or sole lead of her film (her screen time is 31:05 minutes or 19.22 percent) like, say, Oscar nominee Yalitza Aparicio was when she made her film debut in *Roma*. Infiniti did score Critics Choice, Golden Globe, and Actor Awards nominations, but there are some key differences. Critics Choice and the Globes have six slots, with the latter group also splitting drama and comedy/musical genres. All three groups also do not use the Oscars' voting system, which favors passion and No. 1 votes, so it's easy to discern that Infiniti might not be able to pull enough top votes or even Nos. 2s or 3s with limited screen time in an ensemble film. *—Joyce Eng***

Every 2026 Oscars episode of 'The Awardist' podcast

See the full list of SAG's 2026 Actor Awards nominations: Cynthia Erivo snubbed, 'Sinners' soars

SURPRISE: F1

With *It Was Just an Accident* flatlining in recent weeks, losing international film races and missing key BAFTA longlist categories, the 10th spot in the Best Picture field was up for grabs. Leave it to *F1* to cross the finish line first. While its nomination may feel like a surprise at first blush, it's really not when you consider its Producers Guild of America Award nomination (nine of the 10 nominees transferred over to the Oscars), it was a solid hit over the summer, it has massive tech support, and is win-competitive in categories like sound and editing. *—Joyce Eng*

SNUB: Best Documentary Short — Cashing Out, produced by RuPaul's Drag Race winner Angeria Paris VanMicheals

Long an advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights after rising to prominence as a contestant (and eventual All Stars 9 winner) on *RuPaul's Drag Race*, drag queen superstar Angeria Paris VanMicheals lent her voice and industry cred to the Oscar campaign for the AIDS crisis documentary *Cashing Out*. Though the film was shortlisted ahead of the nominations, the project — also produced by actor Matt Bomer — was shut out on the final list of nods at a vital time in American culture for queer community visibility. *—Joey Nolfi*

Miley Cyrus at the 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' premiere.

VALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty

SNUB: Miley Cyrus (Best Original Song - "Dream as One" from Avatar: Fire and Ash)

Simultaneously campaigning for an Oscar while preparing for her (heavily teased, unconfirmed) comeback as Hannah Montana for the Disney Channel series' 20th anniversary, the Academy could've let Miley Cyrus have the best of both worlds among the 2026 nominations. Cyrus was *everywhere* promoting her *Avatar *tune alongside superstar songsmiths Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, and Simon Franglen. But, alas, her bid for a *Fire and Ash *nomination went up in smoke, with steadfast category contenders like Diane Warren. *—Joey Nolfi*

SNUB: Jesse Plemons (Best Actor, Bugonia)

Jesse Plemons pulled off a surprise Actor Award nomination for *Bugonia* earlier this month on the heels of a Golden Globe nomination, but he fell short at the Oscars. *Bugonia *was surging with guild nominations and 12 BAFTA longlist mentions, including for Plemons, so it felt like the Yorgos Lanthimos black comedy could show up beyond the expected Best Picture, Best Actress for Emma Stone, and Best Adapted Screenplay categories. Alas, that extra nomination manifested in Best Original Score. Plemons was in a tough category with a strong top seven — Golden Globe champ and *The Secret Agent* star Wagner Moura was predicted to make the Oscars, and did, after his expected Actor Award snub — and Plemons and Joel Edgerton (*Train Dreams*) were the leads of two Best Picture nominees who missed out. *—Joyce Eng***

Jesse Plemons in 'Bugonia'.

Atsushi Nishijima/Focus Features

SNUB: Odessa A'Zion (Best Supporting Actress, Marty Supreme)

Odessa A'Zion is not Monica Barbaro. Last year, Timothée Chalamet's *A Complete Unknown* costar only had an Actor Award bid to her name before popping up in Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. A'Zion was in the same boat for *Marty Supreme* — and actually an even better position as she made the BAFTA longlist, unlike Barbaro, and could be a BAFTA nominee come Tuesday. Between that, *Marty Supreme*'s box-office success, and Chalamet's Best Actor frontrunner status, it seemed like A'Zion was in, but in the very first category, her name was not called. Every Best Actor winner this decade has had a supporting actress nominated alongside him. Does this spell trouble for Timmy? *—Joyce Eng*

SURPRISE: Best Costumes – Avatar: Fire and Ash

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Source: Academy

Published: January 22, 2026 at 10:38PM on Source: ANDY MAG

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